Boston: Then and Now
My father nudged me on the shoulder, stirring me awake with a brusque, marine-like command to wake up.
"Wake up! Let's go. Up and at 'em!" he barked.
With barely-awake, squinted eyes I peered through the passenger window of our '85 Buick Regal, noting the dark red brick of Stratton Hall - my freshman home at Tufts University.
"I like brick...," I thought to myself, unable to muster a more elaborate thought after 2+ hours of snoring and drooling during this 4 hour trip from NYC.
It was the Fall of 1986. And for the 5 years that followed I would learn to love Boston - its architecture, college girls, and, with much amusement, words like 'frappe', 'wicked' (a perennial modifier unique to New England hipsters - if there is such a thing), and 'grinder' (it's a HERO!) while at the same time hating it - the red sox ("here we go YANKEES, here we go!"), the subway (oops! I mean the 'T' ) shutting down just when the parties are picking up, and no beer on Sundays ("hey Joe - pass me another frappe - the Jets just scored against the Pats!").
But that was then and this is now.
I just moved back to Boston in November of '06. Love for a woman (who's a New Yorker, thank you! She calls 'em 'heroes', 'sundaes', and doesn't say 'wicked' ) brought me back to a place I never thought I'd see again ('twas beauty that killed the beast).
Oh well, I'm back and better than ever!
I'm livin' in JP, writin' (children's books, poetry, and stuff), photographing, travelling, and doing alternative healing.....oh, and I'm loving Boston.
Wow! What a difference 20 years and relative sobriety make!
I'll be covering Boston in this blog - its sites, art, dining, wines, architecture, sports, things to do, to see, to avoid, its people - and everything else I (OR YOU!!!) can think of.
By the way, the "OR YOU!!!" part is real - drop me a line by comment or by email to offer ideas or just to say 'wassup' or that the Yankees suck. I promise to listen....and not laugh if you say 'Your blog is wicked cool!'
Up and at 'em, Beantown! Time to have fun!
Now that's....wicked!
